Shoaib Malik: When playing for Pakistan, my role in the team is not made clear

Pakistan‘s former captain Shoaib Malik has said that it was absolutely unfair to make any comparisons between the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq and MS Dhoni. The seasoned batsman was asked what he thought about the pressure being exerted by critics and some former players to replace Misbah in Pakistan and Dhoni in India following their team’s defeats to Sri Lanka and England respectively.

“Every captain has a bad series but I would not compare these two at all. There is no comparison because Dhoni has won every major ICC title which Misbah has not done, he said during a talkshow on Geo super channel. Malik said Misbah was a good captain and had performed well as a batsman but the Pakistan Cricket Board is needed to take a final decision on the captaincy for the World Cup 2015. “They need to identify from now who should lead the team in the World Cup including Misbah. Because a decision has to be taken now and this will also give the chosen captain a lot of confidence and boost,” he said.

Malik, who has been sidelined by selectors after the World T20 in Bangladesh but emerged as a top player in the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League (CPL) for eventual champions Barbados Tridents, said the same principle should apply for the players. Asked if he was disappointed at not being part of the selector’s plans for the World Cup, Malik said obviously he wanted to play in the premier event. “What I say is whoever the selectors have in mind for the World Cup they should decide now and form a combination from now because they need to prepare now for this mega event which is not going to be easy,” he said.

We need to have consistency in the team selection leading up to the World Cup because that is how we will be able to form a strong combination, Malik said. The former captain who also helped Hobart win the Big Bash T20 title in Australia said he had already “committed to playing for the Australian side” in the Champions League in India next month.”

Malik said Pakistan had lost the Test series in Sri Lanka because they didn’t try to change their strategy against the bowlers. I think the same approach cost India in England. The Pakistani batsman failed to devise a proper strategy to play Rangana Herath in the test series, Malik said. “After failing against him in the first Test they should have changed their approach and played him more positively in the second Test.”

Malik said perhaps the reason for his success as a batsman in the Caribbean Premier League was because he knew in advance which position he would be batting on. “I am not blaming anyone but perhaps I think when I play for Pakistan my batting position or role in the team is not made clear to me,” he said.

First Published on August 23, 2014, 1:33 amLast updated on August 23, 2014, 2:35 am